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 Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:14 pm
 Now in her early adult years, Gopala often wondered how and why it was that she was still alone. She had seen potential in her childhood friend, Lennox, and their relationship, but it had never gone anywhere. Since the migration to the mountains, she'd scarcely seen him, never talked to him. It was sad and off-putting. What was wrong with her? She did everything to make boys like her. She flirted, she shared food with them, she spent the night in their dens, but none mated with her, even for the evening. Was she ugly? She'd always thought she was beautiful, taking after her lovely mother, Kimama. That… that couldn't be it! The lioness shook her head and sighed, staring at her reflection in the water. There was a legend about the well in the natural garden nestled between two peaks of mountains. They said drinking from it would lead you to your true love. Almost a magical potion of sorts. But the pride hadn't been in these lands for very long. How could it be that they had that knowledge? Whom had she even heard it from? She bit her lip and furrowed her brow. But that only made her reflection uglier. Gopala gulped in a huge breath of air. The water stank, sour and rotten. But… Well, it couldn't hurt, right? Another deep breath, and the lioness drank. She gagged on the taste at first and fervently wiped her tongue off with her paws before licking grass. She couldn't do it. She wasn't strong enough. Gopala's eyes watered, but was it from the taste and smell, or recognizing her weakness and fearing she'd die alone? She squinted her eyes shut and tried again, sucking deep and drinking long. She nearly fainted from the taste and the lioness fell backwards from the sudden weakness.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:15 pm
 Nearby, Parokakari crossed through the pride's land, searching for some small animals to snack on. Or, you know, maybe a pretty gal to court. Though he'd arrived last year during the queen's games, he hadn't had much luck with the ladies. Not par for the course, at least compared to his years and years in the rogue lands. Maybe his bright orange stuck out too much in this pride of mostly browns and grays and blacks. Not that he ever thought he wasn't handsome. But he'd grown accustomed to and comfortable with his newfound home. He'd hate to leave just because he couldn't find a girl to keep him company. But maybe he should think about ACTUALLY settling down. His legacy, and all that. He wrinkled his nose at the though. Still considering himself a bit of a love 'em and leave 'em, wouldn't taking a mate or having kids cut back on that? His thoughts were interrupted by a soft "thump." Did something fall out of the trees over there? Curiously, he padded over and poked his bright face through the thick growth of trees. He saw the crumpled form of a lioness, black and white and brown. And she wasn't moving. He had to act quickly. He shouldered through the trees and rushed over to her. But, uh… now what? He was no healer. He'd almost died from infection after getting in some fights. Tentatively, he nudged her with his yellow-tipped paw. "H-hey… w-wake up. A-are you okay?" Nothing. "Hey, quit messing around!" His nudging got more fervent. He pawed at her face. "I mean it!" Was she dying? He put his ear to her chest to listen for her heart. It was slow, quiet, but it wasn't losing speed. And she was breathing. His orange eyes looked her over. She was pretty, an even worse tragedy if she was to die.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:19 pm
Slowly, Gopala regained consciousness, blinking her pink eyes rapidly. Her brows furrowed in confusion before her sight cleared. Some fuzzy lion shape was slapping her face. How rude! She snapped at the paw with her teeth out of self-defense.
"HEY! RUDE! Well, glad to see you're going to be okay, I guess."
She heard a voice, but louder was a ringing in her ears. Uggghh. She didn't feel so good. Groggily, she stumbled to her feet and swayed. The image sharpened. It was an orange lion, and gods, he was bright. She squinted.
"Were you the one slapping me?" He looked taken aback.
"I was only trying to help. You had fainted."
So he was trying to save her? His blue and green mane seemed like a halo. Maybe drinking from the spring had been what sent him to her! His tangerine eyes seemed to glisten, his wing markings seemed to flutter and glisten in the sunlight.
"Th-thank you." She stammered out, her tongue suddenly tied by how handsome this lion was. Her eyes fell to the ground, shy, before glancing back up at him through her forelock. Wow, she'd gotten awfully lucky with who the spring sent her. Her true love was handsome.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:20 pm
"Uhm, it's no problem." She was looking at him kind of funny. The kind of funny that made him blush. He hadn't appreciated her trying to bite him, but was she flirting with him now? He tilted his head. Maybe he was just seeing the signals he wanted to, but the way she kept looking him was the way he wanted to keep looking at her.
"I'm Parokakari."
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:21 pm
"Gopala. Thank you, Parokakari. I owe you my life." She bowed deeply and gave him her most charming smile. She stepped closer to the male, as if to nuzzle him in his thick mane, but she stopped short, sitting and wrapping her tail around her feet.
"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:21 pm
Gee, she was forward. His eyebrows went up in shock. He'd never had this dynamic with a lioness before. Usually he was the pursuer, and the female not interested. Now that she'd taken his job, he was at a loss.
"I, uh, I'll have to think of something, I guess." STUPID. But he didn't want to just take advantage of her! She'd nearly died today! He backed away, though having her so close was intoxicating, so hard to resist. He took another step and turned.
"It was nice to meet you, Gopala. …I hope you feel better soon."
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:22 pm
HE LEFT?! WHAT!? Gopala's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. And she was just letting her true love get away that easy?! Not likely. But he left so abruptly she was stunned. When she tried to get up, finally, and follow him, her legs were still weak from the spring. Well, she'd catch up to him sooner or later. Hopefully sooner. the end (word count: 110 cool
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